Acrylic resins



Patented Aug. 27, 1946 2,406,558 ACRYLIC RESINS f Henry T. Neumann, New York, N. Y., assignor of one-third to Leon G. Arpin, Montclair, N. J.,

and one-third to Edwar Heights, N. Y. No Drawing.

This invention relates to acrylic resins and,

more particularly, to makinga byproduct from acrylic resin scrap.

' The principal object of the invention is toprovide a speedy, inexpensive and simple method of making a by-product from acrylic resin scrap formed during the manufacture of acrylic resin parts.

Another object of the invention is to make as a by-product from acrylic resin scrap anorganic solution from which there is deposited upon evaporation of the solvent a substance capable of serving as an improved cement, filler, binder, coating or the like. 'Tv

/ A further object of the invntionis to;provide an improved organic cement capable of highly effectively bonding articles made of acrylic resins and which may be simply modified to bond well with articles made of materials such as acetate and cellulose nitrate.

Another object of the invention ders the articles self-form-Inaintaining to ahigh degree shock-proof, water impervious, and d CO-.'

rative. I Another object of the invention is to provide an improved flexible, Wear-resistant laccluerfthe transparency of whose resultant coating canbe easily controlled. I H Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinaiter'pointed out.

The invention contemplates making a by-prod uct from scrap resins such as acrylic and methacrylic acids, their esters, amides, salts} halides:

and nitriles. More particularly the invention is concerned with making a by-product from the cellulose istoprovide a novel organic filler forfibrousarticles which rend L. Symonds, J ackson Application December 10, 1943, a Serial No. 513,713; v 1

. 3 Claims. (o1. goo-ea) which will rei ft r bereferr e d to'as the "ides posit product, is much softer than Lucite. Also,

it"is,more,flexibl el These two qualities-"render the deposit product a highly desirablecenient, filler and lacquer.

Although benzene by itself will dissolve Lucite scrap injtime, when used alone the dissolving proceeds rather slowly. I have found that the concomitant use of alcoholigreatly' accelerates scrap acrylic resin known as Lucite, i. e., polymeric methyl methacrylate resin.

Basically]: carry out 'theinvention by dissolving the acrylic resin, such as Lucite, in a volatile organic solvent which may consist either of a single solvent or a mixture of two or moreor-i The resulting solution of Luciteganic solvents. in an organic solvent may be applied to surfaces to be cemented or coated, or impregnated'in a fibrous material-and "allowed to dry whereupon a solid substance will be deposited whose degree of translucency Will varyin accordance with the composition of the organic solution.

' More specifically I dissolve the'Lucite scrap inbenzene. When this organicsolution of Lucite is applied to an exposed surface, the benzene will evaporate and deposit a horny, solid substance which is notLucite although it resembles the same. For example, this depositedsubstance,

the dissolving action. Typical alcohols-effective for this purpose are alcohols of the aliphatic saturated series which are solublein' benzene. Ex-

amples of these are: methyl'alcohol, ethyl al-cohol, propyl alcohol butyl alcohol, amyl-alcohol, hexyl alcohol, laury-alcohoL -cetyl alcohol, and stearyl alcohol. a

The methyl and ethylalcohols are particularly useful since th y greatly facilitate the dissolving action and are obtainable commercially at-a verylow price. It should be notedthat these saturated aliphatic alcohols are not capable by themselves of dissolving Lucite. By way of example, andwithout in any way limiting'myself thereto, the following is a gOOd example'of a' solvent for dissolving Lucite in accordance with my inveni Q' Ethyl alcohol cc 2000 Benzene cc 7000 This quantity of the composite solvent can-be used to dissolve about half a kilogram of Lucite. It is also capable of dissolving'larger quantities of scrap, but the resulting organic solutionpf polymeric methyl methacrylate resin will .be more viscous. is used to dissolve 454 gms. or scrap,'the resulting solution will have the viscosity of molasses.

Preferably the Lucite scrap is first immersed in the alcohol, then the benzene is added. If the procedude is reversed, that'is. if the Lucite is first added to the benzene and then alcohol isintrQ- duced, a cottony precipitate will be formed of the scrap already in solution. Of course, this cottony precipitate can be redissolved, but this requires additional time. If the alcohol is first added and then the benzene, from one to two hours will be required'to dissolve the 454 gms. of scrap. Theprocess maybe carried out at ordinary room temperatures. After the Lucite is dissolved,'it is desirable to allow the viscous solution to stand a while to permit homogenization thereof. I

This solution is one of the end products' Ob tained'from the reclamation of the Lucite scrap. It can be used as a cement or as a bond for substances which may be softened by the solvent.

If the above 9000 cc. of solvents 1 cent of. the original solution by. volume. care should be exercised .not. toaddi much. more than -two:-per. centof; acetone; otherwisea cot For example, this solution forms an excellent bond for unitin Lucite parts.

I have found upon tests that where two thin 1 Lucite sheets are united by the foregoing solution the sheets fail before the bond. '5

The solution. can .als0. be adaptedafor. use as .a.

1 bond fonorganicmaterialS other thaniLuciteiuby adding another solvent to the already formed 1 solution, which solvent has. the property of-.-. softening the material with which the solution l is to be used. Thus if glacial acetic acid is adddf i to the solution, the resultin new solutiomis an.

excellent bond. for substances's'ucli. as..cellulo'se..'

acetat and cellulose nitrate l The quantity of E glacial acetic acid to be added can be quite widely i5 varied.

I have found that highly 'satisfactory resultsf are obtained Whe're'the glacial acetic acid is about-ten percent byjvolume of the originaLcomposite. solvent. 7 glacial acetic.acidican.beemployed, but it must. be; borne;' in. mind that. there' will..-be. a greater softening. of the. material; .Wliereulessth'an .ten

. per. cent of-glacialacetic a'cid. 'iis used, fa..poorer' If. desired, larger amounts of bond is formed- I Thebonding action of my.novfe1.,solution on substances such ascellulose acetateandcellulose nitratecan be'further enhanced by adding other softening solvents in additioneto the glacial acetic acid. Such another. solvent. is... acetone, which" 39.

can-be .added in-theamountbf about two. per- Here tony precipitate willtbeformed. I v 'If desired, the characteristics of. the; deposit product may bemodified. torenderjthe Ib'ond Tmore flexible by adding. -plasticizers, examples .of which {are dimethyl phthalate, dibutyl ltartrate, lactic 3 acid,- phenolptha'lein, and tricresyl i phosphate.

, My-improved solution, when. app lied.-.toa.-sur..

i faceeexposed to air; dries..very. quicklyand .lthus. rapidly;leaves-,acthin. film. of. the .deposit prod uct. Inesome instancesetlfiis is.not.desirabl, that is; the speed of drying is. .to0 :rapid, andlundr such conditions it is preferable to introduce into. the solution a reagent for retarding drying. Any

of the" foregoingplasticizers willfunction satis jfactorilyas-retardants: I

Another; and very,efficientretardant. is zinc fchl'orideic Witlnthe latter; thGrSOl-lllliOIliWlll take fronrabout: oneeha-lf: to; two hours. to dry and Iproperlyx'sets v I have mentioned: aboyeith'at: where? it; was. desired: to increase or. decrease the:-viscosity of V Ithesolutionmorezor. less Lucitei scrap should be" dissolved'ain a' solution comprising, a fixed ratio of,twoormoresolvents; This is contrary; to ordinary practice. in dissolving. organic compounds wherein: if. a. less viscoustsolution: is employed, it 0 is common-to". add; more" of the; dissolving agent .onlyg'irt this instance zbenzene-,zratherthan to.-in'-. crease thezamounts of both-.tlie-benzeneend al coh'ohlthati is; of thezdissolving agent andt the acceleratingzagenti- The: reason for: this is-;that- IIhave found thatzwhererth'es. ratio: betweemthe a'lcoholtand; benzene is; varied, the transparency I ofthe: deposit product varies correspondingly;

Where benzene aliineis r-used jhe' depositproductisip'erfectlyclearzand'transparent'. When:alcohol .7

is also. employednp to the;-proportionmentioned motile-foregoing; specific example; that is, two parts out of :'a total of. nine,. the deposit product is; stilli perfectly clear and: transparent. H'oweven-asth'e ratio :increases; the-deposit product water.

becomes first cloudy and finally opaque. Where the ratio is reversed-7000 cc. of alcohol to 2000 cc. of benzene-the deposit product is quite opaque, although its flexibility and softness are not materially affected.

Wheremy novel solution is. employed. in closing; packages ofjfood, itis desirableto 1 prevent dirt and extraneous matter present in the scrap from being carried over into the solution. Par-' ticularly is this necessary where such dirt dis-1 solves-in the solvents employed in my solution. I

Tothisend Luciteinay be dissolved inmy novel solvent, vpreciriitatedfas by adding water, and the precipitatezthen :redissolved in afresh solution which includes benzene. Such fresh s'olution may also include alcoholas described above. fyAl-ternatively- I may employ, for the purpose *ofTe'moVing the, impurities, a solution of acetic acid acetic anhydride and sulphuric acid, which willdissolve Lucite and from which the same can -likewise be precipitated.-v .by V the addition. of

My novel solutio n of L ucite can beemployed also. as a lacquer... If...the solution is unpigmented withpthealcoholand benzene. in the above spe-- cified. proportions, thelacquerwill be clear and.

uncolored. suitableipigments, of. course-,. maybe added. If'an'opaque or semi-opaque lacquer is. 'desired,..the proportions of alcohol andbenzene maybe changed. accordingly- The lacquenthus. obtained is extremely flexiblean-d. is thus very desirable, since it will not chip andawill not break when the surface to which .it edly or sharply bent.

My solution of Lucite=can also be used for fabricating self-[form-maintaining.fibrous articles fromlraw materialswhichare. essentially limp,

such as paper and cloth. Tomake a paper article, a. sheet of paper is-coated with the. solution and the same allowed tosoakinto the paper, or the 3 sheet, may, be; immersed in; the solution, withdrawnanditheexcess.solution allowed to run off. The surface of thesheetis then permited to dry and..the'sheet.is processed. to bring; it into the.

desired shape, such as a paper cup, embossed license..plate,- etc. permittedto set.. Ifzincchlbride is-usedasthe. retardanhfin, about one-halt. to two. hours, full. setting will result, The paper article is, light, resilient .and. will notv chip; It .is. also. strong and impervious, tomoisture, although flexible,

enough not to :breakQeasily.

Quite: often the acrylic. resin scrap includes 7 scrap with -.a-p aper backing; is .placed ina crock and -:enough tof a five to ;ten percent solution .of

. sodium sul-phide'ispoured into the crock toim mersewthe scrap.- Thescrap-is allowedto stand in this solution for :f-rom twoto twenty-four hours. The sodium sulphide solution is then poured off and-the=:scrap in-the crock. submersed in. a. five; to temper cent-solutionof sodium bisulfite. The scrap: is, permitted to. stand in. this second. solu tion for from two to three .hoursafter which itlis poured. out .and the scrap Washed. in. water. to.

is .applied is repeat- After shaping, the. .paperds :matte iseaccomplished as folclear ofl excess salts. The scrap is then dried whereupon it is ready for dissolution in the composite solvent hereinabove described.

The sodium sulphide gelatinizes the cellulosic matter, in this instance the paper backing, the sodium bisulfite sets the gelatinized backing and the water renders the backing opaque. After treatment with the sodium sulphide, sodium bisulfite and water, none of which affect the acrylic resin scrap, the cellulosic matter is soluble in the composite solvent along with the acrylic resin scrap and the resulting solution will have the same physical and chemical characteristics as the solution of the acrylic resin alone.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a method of making, as a by-product from Lucite scrap, an organic solution capable 01' many useful applications and which achieves the stated objects of my invention.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments'above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A method of utilizing scrap polymeric methyl methacrylate resin including cellulosic matter comprising treating the same for fromabout 2 to 24 hours in a, solution of from about 5 to of sodium sulphide, next treating the same for 6 about from 2 to 3 hours in a solution of from about 5 to 10% of sodium bisulphite, washing the same in water, and then dissolving the scrap and treated cellulosic matter in benzene and a monohydric alcohol of the saturated aliphatic series.

2. A method of utilizing scrap polymeric methyl methacrylate resin including cellulosic matter comprising treating the same for from about 2 to 24 hours in a solution of from about 5 to 10% of sodium sulphide, next treating the same for about from 2 to 3 hours in a solution of from about 5 to 10% of sodium bisulphite, Washing the same in water, drying the same, and then dissolving the scrap and treated cellulosic matter in benzene and a monohydric alcohol of the saturated aliphatic series.

3. A method of utilizing scrap polymeric methyl methacrylate resin including cellulosic matter comprising immersing the same in a solution of from about 5 to 10% of sodium sulphide, letting the same stand in said solution for from about 2 to 24 hours, next immersing the same in a solution of from about 5 to 10% of sodium bisulphite and allowing the same to stand in said last named solution for from about 2 to 3 hours, washing the same in water, drying the same, and then dissolving the scrap and treated cellulosic matter in benzene and a monohydric alcohol of the saturated aliphatic series.

HENRY T. NEUMANN. 

